All great suggestions. Another thing to try is put the transmission in gear before stabbing it and lightly attach a pair of Vise Grips to the output shaft. That way you can get the input shaft to rotate which could also help with the insertion.

On 8/21/2022 at 2:17 PM, Reptoid Overlords said:

I can second the instance where the clutch alignment tool supplied let the disc slip. I nearly beat the hell out of my engine and transmission before I figured it out haha. It was the tool that came with the Excedy kit currently installed on the car.

So how do you go about troubleshooting? Loosen the pressure plate? Mate the transmission, pull it back slightly to tighten the pressure plate back?

 

On 8/21/2022 at 2:17 PM, Reptoid Overlords said:

I can second the instance where the clutch alignment tool supplied let the disc slip. I nearly beat the hell out of my engine and transmission before I figured it out haha. It was the tool that came with the Excedy kit currently installed on the car.

 

I did just loosen the pressure plate and re position the clutch disk. I believe I ended up putting the transmission in gear as stated above as well.

 Pull the transmission and stick your head up in the tunnel and look thru the p. plate to the clutch splines. The clutch splines should look centered in the p. plate fingers. If it's not centered, loosen the p. plate just enough to slide the disc to the centered position tighten it down and install the trans. I've successfully installed two clutches with no pilot shaft to center the disc. Honestly, on the first install, I doubted whether I could do it by eye but to my surprise, it slid right in. Same with the second.

 

20 hours ago, Mark Maras said:

 Pull the transmission and stick your head up in the tunnel and look thru the p. plate to the clutch splines. The clutch splines should look centered in the p. plate fingers. If it's not centered, loosen the p. plate just enough to slide the disc to the centered position tighten it down and install the trans. I've successfully installed two clutches with no pilot shaft to center the disc. Honestly, on the first install, I doubted whether I could do it by eye but to my surprise, it slid right in. Same with the second.

 

Agreed.  I've installed a number of clutches by leaving the pressure plate loose enough to feel around the edges and slide the disc into the center of the pressure plate, then tightening it.  It has worked every time.